St Kilda honours oldest player
– 1 August 2014 –
John Curtin, a resident at Sir William Hall Hostel in Ivanhoe, was recently honoured by the St Kilda Football Club as their “oldest living player” – he will turn 90 in November.
John had a short career as a fullback for St Kilda until he was sent to Borneo with the Australian army in 1947, and was known as the club’s “longest kick”.
John Curtin with Captain Nick Reiwoldt
The Saints were a founding team of the Victorian Football League, playing in the inaugural VFL season in 1897. In 1947 John was the 899th player for the club and wore jumper number “18”.
John was a celebrity for a day at a special sit down function at Etihad Stadium where he was presented with an award and a boxed St Kilda football jumper, made more special as St Kilda managed a win on the day.
John enjoyed meeting the players, including Captain Nick Reiwoldt as well as St Kilda’s youngest player Blake Acres, and John wasn’t averse to giving them some tips on how to improve their “drop kick”!